CineQuiz
Scene from Girls on Probation
Poster for Girls on Probation

Girls on Probation (1938)

Girls on Probation (1938), directed by William C. McGann, starring Jane Bryan and Ronald Reagan.

10/22/1938 BR Crime and Drama 1h 3m

Sensational!

Synopsis

A dizzy young girl falls into crime but wins her lawyer's heart.

  • William C. McGannDirector
  • Crane WilburScreenplay

About the film

Girls on Probation is a 1938 American crime film directed by William C. McGann and written by Crane Wilbur. The film stars Jane Bryan, Ronald Reagan, Anthony Averill, Sheila Bromley, Henry O'Neill and Elisabeth Risdon. The film was released by Warner Bros. Pictures on August 22, 1938.

Read the full article (2k characters)

Girls on Probation is a 1938 American crime film directed by William C. McGann and written by Crane Wilbur. The film stars Jane Bryan, Ronald Reagan, Anthony Averill, Sheila Bromley, Henry O'Neill and Elisabeth Risdon. The film was released by Warner Bros. Pictures on August 22, 1938.

Plot

Innocent young Connie Heath is persuaded to borrow a party dress from her friend, "fast girl" Hilda Engstrom, who has actually misappropriated it from the dry cleaner where she works. After the real owner of the dress, witchy Gloria Adams, spots Connie out in the dress (which is subsequently torn in a car door), Connie is falsely accused of theft and prosecuted as Hilda flees town and leaves her to take the blame. Though Gloria withdraws her charge, the insurance company continues to persecute poor Connie, resulting in a charge of grand larceny. Championing her cause is crusading attorney Neil Dillon - coincidentally, also Connie's date on the evening in question- who gets Connie off with probation.

Connie leaves town after being mistreated by her unsympathetic father and gets a job in order to pay for the damaged dress. One day she spots Hilda waiting in a parked car on the street and begins to argue with her in the car when Hilda's boyfriend emerges from a bank he has just robbed, fleeing the scene with Connie in tow. She is arrested and convicted while refusing to give her real name or full story for fear of humiliating her family.

Eventually the truth begins to emerge, and Connie is given probation, returns home, and becomes engaged to Dillon. When Hilda is given probation, she returns to town as well, to make even more trouble for Connie, especially after her boyfriend escapes prison.

Cast

References

External links

Girls on Probation at IMDb

Girls on Probation at the TCM Movie Database (archived)

Girls on Probation at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films

Text from Girls on Probation on Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girls_on_Probation

Trivia

Production

Cast

Quiz about this movie

Questions from the whole catalogue.

Play now

If you liked this one

Tags

Crew

Questions about this film

What is Girls on Probation about?

Girls on Probation: A dizzy young girl falls into crime but wins her lawyer's heart.

Who directed Girls on Probation?

Girls on Probation was directed by William C. McGann in 1938.

Who stars in Girls on Probation?

The cast of Girls on Probation includes Jane Bryan, Ronald Reagan, Anthony Averill, Sheila Bromley and Henry O'Neill.

How long is Girls on Probation?

Girls on Probation runs for 63 minutes, or 1h03.

Similar films

Page updated on 09/14/2026.

Back to the catalogue
Scene from Girls on Probation